Right wing priorities courtesy Gov. Goodhair
by digby
Perry said his constituents in Texas are concerned about “the 90 percent-plus of individuals who don’t get talked about enough that are coming into the United States illegally and committing substantial crimes.”He said that the 203,000 illegal immigrants who have come into Texas since 2008 and booked into Texas county jails have been responsible for over 3,000 homicides and almost 8,000 sexual assaults.
Crowley, the host of CNN’s “State of the Union,” called Perry’s claim “wildly off.”
“Governor, I have to point out that a number of fact- checkers have said that that 3,000-homicide figure is wildly off,” she said.
That’s awesome. Unfortunately, Perry simply ignored her and went on, unopposed:
“I do stand by them [the statistics] by the way, but what are the number of homicides that are acceptable to those individuals? How many sexual assaults do we have to have before the president of the United States and Washington, D.C., acts to keep our citizens safe?” he said.
Even one homicide by an undocumented worker is too many. Obviously, we should send soldiers to the border to kill them all. (Why else would you nee soldiers? They’re not social workers.)
Then maybe the Governor could think about doing something about this little problem with keeping his own constituents safe:
On Wednesday evening, Ronald Lee Haskell, disguised as a FedEx delivery man, gained entry to the home of his sister-in-law and her spouse, Stephen and Katie Stay, demanding the whereabouts of his estranged ex-wife. According to statements by the Harris County police and prosecutors, he then allegedly tied up the Stays and their five children, ages 4 to 15, and shot them execution style, killing all but his 15-year-old niece, who played dead. Haskell then began driving to the home of the children’s grandparents, possibly to continue his rampage, but his critically injured niece managed to call 911. He was apprehended on the way by law enforcement. After a three-and-a-half-hour standoff three miles from the scene of the killings, Haskell surrendered and was arrested.
Court records show that in Utah in 2008, Haskell was charged with domestic violence and simple assault against his wife. She reported that he had hit her in the head and dragged her by the hair, according to police and court records. He pleaded guilty to the assault charge and had the domestic-violence charge dismissed as part of his plea deal. In July 2013, Haskell’s wife filed a protective order against him in Cache County, Utah, where they lived at the time. The order applied to her and their four children. She then moved away and filed for divorce about a month later. The divorce was finalized this past February.
Nobody knows where he got his guns. But we can assume that Governor Perry figures he had an All American, God given right to have as many as he wanted. There’s zero chance he has any intention of doing anything about this:
Three different bills that would strengthen federal law are currently stalled in Congress, in part due to lobbying efforts of gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association. Federal law prohibits convicted felons, subjects of permanent domestic-violence protective orders, as well as current and former spouses, parents, and guardians who have been convicted of domestic-violence misdemeanors from possessing a gun. But this leaves many situations where potential abusers are allowed to keep their guns. The current law doesn’t apply to misdemeanant stalkers, domestic-violence misdemeanants who are current or former dating partners but who’ve never cohabitated or had a child together, as well as accused partners subject to a temporary (rather than permanent) restraining order. This is concerning, especially considering that in more than half of all states, fatal violence between intimate partners is most often perpetrated with a firearm.
But sure, by all means, let’s put every effort into stopping non-existent crime among immigrants and child refugees down at the border. That’s what we call conservative “problem solving.”
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